Behind-the-scenes look shows Tallinn art museum in a new light
Most visitors to Kumu Art Museum stick to its several floors of galleries — but a behind-the-scenes tour shows the museum has its own hidden passages and surprises.
Kumu is a popular destination for school field trips, and according to museum director Kadi Poll, kids are often wowed by the same feature.
"It's an absolute classic," Polli said. "When we ask kids at the end of a program what their favorite work of art in the museum was, many of them will say, 'The elevator.'"
The art museum's cargo elevator, the largest in the Baltics at the time the museum was built in 2006, can carry 9.2 metric tons and 122 people.
Beneath the parking garage, a 400-cubic-meter tank stores firefighting water. "In case anything ever happens, this ensures we have initial fire-suppression water on hand before the firetrucks arrive," explained chief engineer Hendrik Vahter.
Over 20 years, Kumu has hosted 249 exhibitions and nearly three million visitors, from American designer Rick Owens, who collaborated with Tommy Cash for a show in 2019, to Queen Elizabeth II.
Polli recalled several standout shows, including Estonian Renaissance painter Michel Sittow's tiny but intricate works in 2018 and the massive teamLab projection exhibit in 2023.
Solo shows by Estonian artists, especially from older generations, remain a reliable hit. "We choose the artists for these solo shows carefully, and it's great that Estonian audiences are so interested in Estonian artists," she added.
As with any art museum, climate control is critical. Vahter said sensors manage heat, humidity and cooling simultaneously, balancing the needs of wood, paper and graphic works. Wood, he added, wants more humid conditions than the latter two.
For Kumu's 20th anniversary, a new exhibition, "Triumph of Galatea: Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," will include a live performance featuring sand on the lobby floor, right in front of the coat check.
The director admitted staff has been stumped by how to preserve the resulting work in such a high-traffic area, but called the challenge "part of being an art museum."
Kumu also gained Hollywood fame when director Christopher Nolan filmed scenes for his sci-fi thriller "Tenet" in its galleries in 2019.
A hidden passage separates the museum from a massive limestone wall, and on the other side of it is Lasnamäe's Laagna tee, another location famously featured in the 2020 blockbuster.
"The entire museum is carved into that limestone," Vahter added.
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Editor: Annika Remmel, Aili Vahtla
